Dave Hyde: Panthers get an 8-1 beatdown in Game 4 — but there’s good news for some fans hoping to witness history
EDMONTON, Alberta — Let’s be honest. There’s a clear upside to the Florida Panthers getting whomped Saturday night.
Maybe it’s one ticket-holding fans for Tuesday’s Game 5 in Sunrise even privately wanted. The Panthers didn’t raise the Stanley Cup on foreign ice, in a far-flung city, before mostly disappointed Edmonton fans.
They come home now with a second chance to celebrate their first Cup before a cheering crowd in a way South Florida could have scripted, even if the full script wouldn’t have involved goalie Sergei Bobrovsky being pulled in Game 4, Edmonton’s Connor McDavid getting his first goal this series and an utterly uncomfortable 8-1 loss.
Edmonton had its party Saturday, from Canadian singer Shania Twain performing before the game to a rousing cheer in the final minutes when fans in Panthers jerseys were shown on the scoreboard Jumbotron leaving for the exits. It was only 7-1 then, so there was another celebration to come when Ryan McLeod’s goal gave the final score.
Up 3-0 in the series entering Saturday, on the brink of their first title, with family flying in and the Stanley Cup trophy in building, the Panthers laid the kind of malodorous egg they’ll spend the next couple of days trying to forget.
Eight goals? The Panthers only gave up four total in the first three games. Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch has talked of “puck luck,’’ a lot after his losses this series but you won’t hear that from the Panthers after a game like this.
Oh, they hit the post twice in a matter of seconds on an early power play before Edmonton’s Mattias Ekholm scored a shorthanded goal to make it 1-0. It was a straight-up beatdown after that. Beyond the degree of difficulty of beating a good team four straight times, the Panthers had to beat some good ol’ human emotion on both sides.
“That’s the first opportunity we’ve had a as a franchise, really, to feel the the past two days the excitement of (winning the Cup),” Maurice said. “We’ll learn how to channel it.”
Earlier Saturday, Maurice talked of the two conflicting energies being one win from the Cup.
“One’s desperation and the other is desire, I guess, for lack of a word,” he said. “Both really powerful sources of energy and we’re both kind of trying to harness those things.”
Either they didn’t harness them, didn’t play the game they’re accustomed or Edmonton had a night. Maybe all of them. Edmonton’s three first-period goals were the first time the Panthers gave up that many in a period since Game 2 against Boston. That’s 15 games ago.
Edmonton’s five goals midway through the first period came on 11 shots. Take your pick if it was Edmonton or the Panthers, but there were some un-Panthers-like defensive miscues: Brandon Montour sliding into Sergei Bobrovsky on one goal; Niko Mikkola and then Aaron Ekblad losing Oilers behind them on two others; Matthew Tkachuk throwing the puck in the middle of the ice for a turnover that ended with McDavid scoring his first goal in the series to make it 5-1.
That was enough for Bobrovsky to be replaced by Anthony Stolarz. At home, chants of “Bob-by,” accompanied his big games. Saturday night in Edmonton, a serenade of “Ser-gei,” followed him off the ice.
“He’d had enough,” Maurice said, adding, “My number on Bob is probably five.”
What does it all mean? There’s the real question of Saturday night. The Panthers got the split on the road every team wants. But will McDavid’s goal awaken his finishing game for the rest of this series? Can he play a bit looser now to convert the handful of chances he has each game? Was this a one-off aberration for both teams?
The NHL and NBA are having such parallel series you had to cross-reference them. The Panthers and Boston Celtics led 3-0. Then came Game 4. The Panthers trailing 6-1 after two periods had the feel of Boston trailing by 48 points in the second half of their Friday night Game 4.
“Not a lot of silver linings here, people,” Maurice said. “Bob got some rest.”
Is celebrating at home better than the road?
“As long as we win,” center Keven Stenlund said.
The Panthers were up 3-0 in the first round against Tampa Bay and then lost a dreary Game 4, 6-3, before closing out the series in Game 5. Edmonton knows what’s at stake Tuesday.
“We’ve got to go to Florida, do a job and drag them back to Alberta,” McDavid said.
Back to Amerant Bank Arena we go. Back to a Game 5 some fans had to privately hope would happen. The Stanley Cup will be in the building Tuesday. So will a franchise waiting to celebrate its first title at home.